


Sylvi

by amairylle



Category: POKEMON Detective Pikachu (2019)
Genre: Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, No pets actually die in this i promise, pet death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22624402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amairylle/pseuds/amairylle
Summary: Minna sits in a Pokemon center with her dying eevee and hopes for a miracle.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	Sylvi

The Pokemon Center at the edge of the wharf district has comfortable chairs. It’s the least they could do, and that’s all they did. Open 24 hours, tucked into a corner between the blue line and a 7-11, it’s the kind of run-down that let you know exactly where they stand on the distribution list of city funds. But the chairs are comfortable. Standard issue, but comfortable. Lucky, if you can use the word in this situation.

Minna has been sitting in the corner staring at the exam room door alone for at least four hours, and is prepared to sit there for as many more as it takes. She should’ve brought tissues. Maybe some water. Definitely a coffee.

The bell on the door jingles. “Nah, bud, I don’t care! He’ll be fine without us for a couple hours.” A young man walks in, carrying a squirming pikachu. The man has dark skin and a leather jacket, and the pikachu has a deerstalker and a petulant frown.

“Pika-pi!” they squeak, quivering their lower lip.

“Don’t give me that face!” The man scolds. “This is just what happens when you eat things that aren’t food! You get a tummy ache and we have to go deal with it. So deal with it.”  
The pikachu sticks out their tongue and makes a fart noise. A giggle escapes Minna’s mouth before she can stop it, and the man looks up and waves at her.

“Sorry about that,” he says, hefting the pikachu onto his shoulder. “He has no manners—Ouch! Don’t dig your claws in, bud!” The pikachu makes another fart noise, and the man brandishes his most threatening pointer finger at him. “I will drop you.”

Minna giggles. “He seems like a handful.”

“So much so he needs two people to look after him!” He takes a seat next to her, careful not to dislodge his pikachu. “I’m Tim, by the way.” He sticks out a hand and Minna shakes it. “You can call Pikachu ‘dumbass’ if you want. He likes to eat flash drives.” He gestures at Pikachu with his thumb.

Pikachu takes issue with the gesture and tries to bite it. Tim only barely pulls his hand out of the way.

“I’m Minna,” Minna replies. Tim sure is talkative. Hopefully, he doesn’t mind talking for the both of them. Minna doesn’t have the energy.

Tim takes a look from the tense set of her shoulders to the dark circles under her eyes. “Rough night, huh?” He takes a can of coffee out of his jacket pocket, and Pikachu runs down his arm for it. “No!” he says, pulling Pikachu onto his lap and holding him firmly. “We are sharing.”

“Piiiikkkkaaaaa,” Pikachu whines.

“Sha. Ring. Here, Minna.” Tim hands her the coffee. “You look like you could use it.”

“Thanks,” Minna says. She pops the top of the can and takes a long drag. “Rough week. This is only the latest thing.”

Tim winces. “Will your partner be ok at least?”

Minna takes a deep breath. It catches in her throat. “Sylvi’s blood pressure shot up. Badly. There’s bleeding in her brain. They’ve been trying to get it under control for the last few hours, but…”

What cheer was left in Tim’s expression falls away.“Aw, fuck, I’m so sorry.” He runs a hand over his hair. “I know we just met but can I hug you? Would that help?” Minna nods, and Tim throws an arm around her shoulders. “Sylvi?” he asks.

Minna sniffles. “When there’s four of you and all of you end up with an eevee for a partner at about the same time, you have to find ways to be sure of who is who so that you don’t yell at the wrong eevee when your socks get stolen.” It’s supposed to be a joke, but her voice comes out thin and watery instead. “I’m sorry, I thought I was done crying.”

“Don’t apologize. This sucks.” He squeezes her arm, staring into the middle distance. His shoulder is tense and bony under Minna’s cheek, but fuck, it beats having to do this alone. Pikachu worms his way over to her lap and gives the can of coffee a sniff. “Bud,” Tim warns him, “don’t.”

Pikachu glares at Tim and instead wedges himself under Minna’s free hand. She puts the coffee down on the tiny table next to some pamphlets about Pokemon dental cleanings, and scratches Pikachu behind the ears. Tim keeps glancing over at her, checking up on her, but he doesn’t ask her any more questions. She wishes he would. The hum of the fluorescent lights and the waiting with no news are getting to her. She reaches up to rebraid her hair with shaking hands. When she finishes, she redoes the braid another three times.

The door to the exam room finally opens and the nurse—Joy, according to her name tag—gives Minna a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she says. “Sylvi didn’t respond to the backup medicine either, and her condition is deteriorating. She’s telling us it’s time to say goodbye.”

Minna sucks in a breath as the room blurs. She chokes out a sob. “No,” she whispers. She’d been holding so tightly to a shred of hope that Sylvi might come out of this, might come home with her. She’d just finished school, moved into her own apartment, just her and Sylvi. There were new beds for both of them, a window seat, new matching dishes and old quilts. “I promised her.”

Tim hooks an arm around her waist and pulls her upright. “Come on,” he says. He might as well have been in another room for all Minna can hear him through her grief. “Let’s go see her. Do you want us to come?”

Minna grips his hand like it’s the only thing keeping her from falling off a cliff. “I promised her,” she repeats, choking on the tears.

Tim nods. He walks her into the exam room, practically holding her up. There’s another one of those comfortable chairs pulled up next to the exam table and he helps her settle in it, then crouches next to her. Pikachu follows, plopping himself down by Minna’s feet on her other side. “I’m here,” Tim says in a gentle voice. “I’m here if you need me.”

On the exam table, wrapped in a soft green blanket, is Sylvi. Minna stops breathing for a moment. She’s never seen Sylvi so still and quiet. Sylvi is supposed to be weaving around Minna’s ankles, stealing food off the counter, hiding in the grocery bags, chirping and complaining the whole time. Even sleeping, she snores and mumbles. This is wrong.

Minna drops Tim’s hand. “Hey baby,” she whispers, leaning forward to wrap her arms around Sylvi. Minna doesn’t dare move her, but she has to be closer. “I’m here.”

Nurse Joy takes a step forward. “Whenever you’re ready—”

Tim shushes her. “Give them a moment,” he says. Pikachu peeks up over the edge of the table and gives the nurse a stony glare.

Minna blocks them all out. “Can you hear me, Sylvi?” her voice shakes. “I’m so sorry,” she says. “I wish I’d seen this sooner. I wish there was something more I could do.” Her tears fall onto Sylvi’s forehead, but Sylvi barely reacts, just a twitch of her eyebrow. “I promised you,” Minna chokes out. “I’m so, so sorry baby.”

Tim lays his hand on Minna’s shoulder. “Hey, stop it.” He gives her shoulder a squeeze. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sure you gave her a really good life. She’s a good partner, yeah?”

Minna nods. “She’s the best partner.” It comes out as a whisper.

“So tell her that,” Tim replies.

Minna takes another breath and tries again. “You know I love you, right?” She says. “I love you so much. You did so good, baby.” She has to force the words out—they keep catching in her throat and coming out as empty air. “You did so good,” she repeated louder, so Sylvi can hear her. Please, let Sylvi hear her.

Sylvi is still warm, and Minna can just barely feel her breathing. Minna tries not to think about a Sylvi-less future, but her mind keeps bringing her memories of things she’ll never see again: Sylvi in her lap while Minna studies, trying to eat the pen; Sylvi sneaking up to the counter to steal the bread and eat through the bag to get to the middle; waking up to Sylvi, curled up asleep in the crook of Minna’s neck; Sylvi standing up with her front paws on Minna’s shoulders, letting out soft trills and nuzzling Minna’s face until she stops crying.

She can’t stop crying. She pulls Sylvi a little closer, hugs her a little tighter. “You’re the best partner,” she says. “I love you so much.” She kisses Sylvi on the forehead. “Thank you. I love you.” Minna repeats these same few phrases over and over, unable to stop speaking any more than she can stop her tears.

Nurse Joy interrupts Minna, and Tim lets her do it. “It’s time,” she said. She sits down opposite Minna and fiddles with some tubes and a syringe.

“Tell her it’s ok to go,” Tim says, and his voice cracks.

Minna shakes her head, keening.

“Minna,” Tim rubs circles across her back. “You have to tell her it’s ok. I know it’s not, but you have to tell her.”

Minna looks over at Nurse Joy, as if she can give them more time, but there’s none to be had. She lets out another sob that echoes off the tile, and runs a shaking hand over Sylvi’s soft forehead. It takes her three tries to get her voice under enough control to speak audibly. “It’s okay,” she says. “If you want to go, it’s okay. I love you.” They’re barely words. “I love you, baby. You can go.”

There’s another high-pitched noise, and it takes Minna a moment to realize it’s not one of hers. She wipes her face on her sleeve so she can see clearly, and there’s Sylvi, turning her head just enough to look at Minna through half-open eyes.

Minna squeaks and pulls back from the table. “Can she see me?”

Nurse Joy pauses in her preparations to wipe a tear off her own cheek. “No, honey, I’m sorry. Her blood pressure is so high that her retinas detached. You’re a blur if she can see you at all.” Sylvi mewls. “I think she heard you though.”

Minna cups Sylvi’s head in her hands. “I’m here baby, It’s ok. You don’t have to stay. You did good, and you can rest now.”

Sylvi mewls again. There’s a faint glow around her face. It takes Minna a few tries to place it.

“Baby, no, it’s ok,” She says hurriedly. “You told me you didn’t want to evolve. You don’t have to try it now.” She runs her thumbs across the ridges of Sylvi’s brows. “You can rest, it’s ok.”

Sylvi whines, a pale shadow of her usual petulant self.

“I don’t even have a stone for you,” Minna sobs. "You can't."

Behind her, Tim’s jacket rustles. “I don’t either. Nurse?”

Nurse Joy shakes her head. “We have some, but it's not a good idea to humor her, I'm sorry," she says. "I can go and get her one, but she’ll probably be gone by the time I get back. Whether she has enough energy to survive the evolution is even dicier.” She gives Sylvi a gentle pat. "You should rest, honey."

Sylvi gives a tiny chirp, and the tip of her tail twitches.

“Would you?” Minna asks. “I think she wants to try.”

Nurse Joy sighs.

"Please," Minna begs. "if she wants to..."

Nurse Joy looks from Minna to Sylvi and back again. She shrugs. “Don’t get your hopes up." She says. The back door swings shut behind her.

Sylvi closes her eyes again and settles back down, using Minna’s hands as a pillow. Minna can barely feel Sylvi’s breath on her wrists, so it takes her a moment to realize she’s purring.

“You don’t have to do this,” she whispers into Sylvi’s ears. “I’m already proud of you. You already did so good.”

Sylvi makes a sound not unlike Pikachu’s earlier litany of fart noises.

“Fine,” Minna says. “I’ll shut up.” She gingerly extracts her hands from under Sylvi’s head, carefully rearranging her arms so that she can hold her partner properly and Sylvi has a softer section of Minna’s upper arm for a pillow. “I love you,” she whispers again, burying her face in Sylvi’s fur.Minna’s face starts to tingle. Even through closed eyes, the light is brighter than the afternoon sun. “Oh, shit!” Tim yelps. She hears a bang as the back door is thrown open. Pikachu chitters frantically, weaving around Minna’s feet.“Nurse Joy!” Tim calls. “Hurry!!” There’s yelled expletives in the distance, getting closer with the clatter of footsteps.

Minna just pulls Sylvi closer, but it gets harder to hold her as she grows, longer legs sticking out of the blanket at odd angles. Minna doesn’t dare open her eyes. What if this is all for nothing? What if, after going through all this, Sylvi still dies? She’d always wondered what Sylvi would be like if she evolved, but it wouldn't be worth it if Sylvi wasn’t still in the body. Minna’s heart pounds. Sylvi wants to try. Sylvi wants to try, and Minna has never doubted her before. She’s not going to start now.

The light subsides, and Minna hold her breath. Under her cheeks, the soft fur is shorter than she’s used to. But Sylvi is still warm, so Minna holds her breath.

A paw on her chest pushes her firmly backwards, and large ears brush against her face, followed by a cold nose and a wet tongue. Minna yelps and opens her eyes.

There, sitting up on the exam table, with life in her eyes, is a pokemon Minna has never seen before. “Sylvi?” she asks.

Sylvi chirps and leans back in, going to town on Minna’s face.

Minna starts crying all over again. “Sylvi!” She repeats it like a benediction. “Sylvi, Sylvi. Hey Sylvi. Sylvi.” Sylvi licks her way across Minna’s face, finally getting to stick her tongue in Minna’s ear. Minna yelps. “Okay! Enough of that.” She wipes the tears out of her eyes. “Let me get a good look at you.” Sylvi’s eyes are bright and blue. Her fur is short, pink and white, with little blue accents. She looks like she’s been decked out in ribbons.

“You’re beautiful,” Minna whispers. She looks back and forth between Nurse Joy and Tim. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

Nurse Joy and Tim have identical slack jaws. Nurse Joy looses her grip on the fire stone, and it clatters on the floor. “What kind of eeveelution is that?” Tim asks, completely ignoring Pikachu climbing up his leg to get a better look.

Sylvi scoffs and tosses her magnificent head. “Sylveon!” she chirps.

“A what?” Tim asks.

“Pika-pi?” Pikachu echoes.

“Syl-ve-on.” Sylvi repeats, slowly, enunciating every syllable. She stands up and shakes the blanket off, then shoves her head under Minna’s chin in an aggressive nuzzle. She has to stoop down to be at the right height.

“Sylveon, huh?” Minna scratches the back of Sylvi’s ruff. She lets out another watery laugh. “You want to go home?” Sylvi purrs. “I can take her home, right?” Minna asks Nurse Joy.

“I, uh, I need to disconnect the IV but uh.” Nurse Joy is still a little pale, her eyes wide as she looks over Sylvi again and again. “She looks healthy, but uh.”

“Oh by all means, please! Check her over.” Minna nods. “We want to be sure.”

“Veeeee,” Sylvi grumbles.

Minna hugs her tight. “Deal with it, you grumpy potato, I want to be sure you’re ok.” She buries her face in Sylvi’s neck again. “I’m so glad you’re ok.” She then releases Sylvi to Nurse Joy, and turns back to Tim, who keeps running a hand over his hair and looking back and forth between Sylvi and Minna, wearing an identical mirror of the Nurse’s shock. “Thank you, Tim,” Minna says. “For being here.”

“Mhm,” Nurse Joy adds quickly. “It’s so nice of you to be there for your girlfriend.”

“Oh! Uh,” Tim laughs. “It’s no problem, but she’s not my girlfriend. I’m here because Pikachu swallowed a flash drive.” He jerks. “Pikachu swallowed a flash drive!” Tim pulls Pikachu off his shoulder and cradles him like an infant. “Uh, he’ll be ok, right?”

“Oh! My mistake.” Nurse Joy finishes disconnecting Sylvi’s IV and wraps a bandage around her back leg. “It’s a small electronic. Pikachu’ll be fine, but the data will probably be wiped.”

“Aw, no!” Tim whines, over an identical sound from his Pikachu. “Bud! This is why you don’t eat evidence.”

Minna chuckles, then turns away from their bickering and back to Sylvi. She strokes Sylvi's head as Sylvi grumbles and gripes about having her temperature taken.

Nurse Joy gives Sylvi a final pat on the head once she finishes. “Clean bill of health as far as I can tell, but don’t hesitate to bring her back if you see anything unusual.”

“Thank you!” Minna says. She stands up, and every muscle in her body protests. Her throat is dry and her eyes are heavy. “Tim, again, I appreciate you staying with me. I'd return the favor, but I’m wiped Do you mind if I go home?”

Tim interrupts his bickering with his partner to give Minna a small smile. “Don't even worry about it. You look like you could use the rest. Oh!”

Pikachu noses his way under Tim’s jacket, and re-emerges with a business card. “Pikachu!” He hands it to Minna.

“I know a guy at the university who will really want to see Sylvi, but later,” Tim continues. “Give me a call after you’ve rested some.”

Minna takes the card, which has the number for a private detective agency and a little cartoon of a pikachu in a deerstalker. “Thanks, I will.” She pockets the card and holds her arms open for Sylvi. “Ready to go ?” she asks.

Sylvi jumps up into Minna’s arms. It takes her a minute to find a comfortable spot in Minna’s arms—she’s larger, her limbs are longer, and it takes a couple tries to find a position where nothing is sticking out. “Sylvi…” She purrs, tucking her head under Minna’s chin and closing her eyes.

“Thanks for everything,” Minna says to Tim, Pikachu, and Nurse Joy. Then, she plants a kiss on the top of Sylvi’s head. “Let’s go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> For Skazka: March 28, 2009–February 8, 2019. I love you. I'm sorry.
> 
> Come say hi to me on [Twitter,](https://twitter.com/amairylle) [Dreamwidth,](https://amairylle.dreamwidth.org/) or [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/Amairylle)


End file.
